Mary Alice "Muffy" Crosswire is a third grader in Mr. Ratburn's class at Lakewood Elementary. She is the richest girl in Elwood City, and lives in an enormous mansion. Muffy entered Lakewood in second grade, when she met Arthur and his friends and quickly became best friends with Francine. She is often labeled as snobbish and spoiled because of her wealth, attitude, and frequent selfishness,[8] but makes up for it in most cases.

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Physical appearance

Muffy is a medium-skinned anthropomorphic monkey. In the first season of the cartoon and early books, she was rendered with buck teeth, but they have disappeared in the later episodes and books. Her usual outfit is a purple puffy sleeveless knee-length dress with a lavender fabric belt over a long-sleeved white blouse, finished with knee-high white socks with brown Mary Jane shoes. Muffy's hairstyle consists of two chest-length auburn braids tied with a pair of matching purple bows. She is seen with this hairstyle in most of the episodes but sometimes changes the style, especially for formal events.

From seasons 1-15, her pajamas consist of a purple and white nightgown under a lavender robe and pink slippers. Starting with Season 16, her nightgown changes from purple to light pink and she doesn't wear her robe anymore.

Her swimsuit consists of a purple maillot with an orange stripe.

On formal occasions, she wears a white t-shirt, a red dress with suspenders, and brown loafers. She wears this outfit with her pigtails.

In the summertime, Muffy wears a lavender t-shirt with a white collar, a green skirt with two pink stripes that are horizontal and vertical, and wears green slip-on shoes with pink soles and a pink flower on each shoe.

In "Bitzi's Break Up," Muffy wears a purple shirt and purple pants, but her double braids are changed to her ponytail. However, she still wears it in later seasons until Season 14.

In "D.W. Blows the Whistle," Muffy wears an orange racing suit with a blue stripe, a white helmet, and orange sneakers.

In "Muffy's Art Attack," Muffy wears the first outfit that consists of a green and purple striped bodysuit, a purple puffy dress with green and purple pockets on the front, and black Mary Jane shoes. She wears this with her double braids and her pigtails. Muffy wears the second outfit that consists of a blue-collar shirt that has sleeves being rolled up above her elbows, white overalls, and brown dress shoes with brown laces. Muffy wears the third one consists of a yellow shirt, a salmon jacket over her shirt, a blue puffy skirt, blue tights, and black Mary Jane shoes. However, she still wears the second and third outfits in later seasons until Season 14.

In "Prunella Gets it Twice," Muffy wears her first outfit, but it has several color changes with her bodysuit having blue and yellow stripes, her dress being red, and her shoes being brown. The only hairstyle she ever has with her first outfit with an alternate color scheme is her pigtails.

In other media

In the Living Books computer games, Muffy had a brown complexion, dark brown hair, and buck teeth in Arthur's Teacher Trouble. She subsequently had her complexion changed to pale, her hair color changed to light brown, and her buck teeth removed in Arthur's Birthday. It was likely due to color and tone restrictions during the 16-bit era of computers and software. Her vocal tone was a bit deeper, as she was voiced by Janice DeMichael Rogers before the TV show replaced her with Melissa Altro. In the later games, such as Arthur's Thinking Games, during the 32-bit era of computers and software, her appearance was the same as she looks in the TV show.

Personality

Muffy often has a lack of empathy for everything and believes that money, Bailey, and her father can fix any problem. However, in some fields, Muffy is good at giving advice on things like fashion or love. She is usually the first one to catch on to a fad or a trend.

Like Arthur, she is 8 years old and in the third grade, but in contrast, she is fashionable, talkative, melodramatic, stubborn, and very wealthy. She is often labeled a snob and spoiled because of her wealth, condescending attitude and frequent selfishness, as shown particularly in the episode "Spoiled Rotten!." However, Muffy can be quite mature at times. Muffy is also shown to be quite popular, as shown by the many parties she hosts. Like her father, Muffy is also good at doing business with people. Despite all of that, Muffy has a knack for being friendly, cares a lot about her friends, loves to hang out with them, and they usually have a wonderful friendship. That is especially true in the later episodes where she is all smiles. Muffy's spoiled home lifestyle has left her somewhat naive when it comes to certain basics of domestic life. She, for example, did not know how to wash dishes by hand in a sink, believing that she could get the job done simply by squirting some dishwashing liquid on a pile of dirty dishes sitting in a sink. ("The Great MacGrady")

When Muffy was younger, her personality was slightly more aggressive. She wanted to be friends with Francine yet had Francine take the blame for cheating during a test. In another episode, she stands up for Francine by telling Buster to not pick on Francine because it is not Francine's fault for The Frenskys to be in debt. She was willing to stand up to Binky even after she accused Binky of stealing Francine's bicycle. In "Meek for a Week," Muffy gets fed up with Francine's insults and challenges Francine to be calm for an entire week. Muffy loses her patience while tutoring Buster, and flunks him. Muffy is proven to be brave enough to stand up to Molly no matter how tough and old she and the rest of her fellow Tough Customers are, as shown in "The Law of the Jungle Gym."

She can also be manipulative and forceful, and often shows herself as a fair-weather friend. One such example is seen in the episode "The Director's Cut" where she takes over the making of George's movie and encourages the crew to change things without George's approval and always holds the fact he was borrowing her camera to make the movie in the first place over his head until George finally put his foot down.

There are also some times where she refuses to take responsibility for things that were entirely her fault, as was the case when she lied about not having any head lice to Francine in "The Lousy Week" and as a result she managed to infect the entire school.

Relationships

Family

Despite having a huge mansion, Muffy's family is quite small. She lives with her father (Ed Crosswire), her mother (Millicent Crosswire), and her butler (Bailey). Like D.W., she refers to her parents as "Mommy" and "Daddy". (She also originally called her mom as "Mumzee".) Muffy has an older brother named Chip, who was first referred to in Arthur's Perfect Christmas, but did not appear until "Matchmaker, Match Breaker." She has many privileges and freedoms, endless rooms filled with toys, and her own clubhouse. She has eaten Hasenpfeffer Ice Cream while reading The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club books and gotten nightmares. There is a lack of communication with her parents. As a result, they suspect that the books gave her nightmares, and formed a protest to ban the books before realizing that Muffy never objected to the books. Despite the books being banned from Elwood City Public Library, Muffy kept her collection in secret until meeting the author. Ed also did not fully understand Muffy's disruption at another meeting with Ms. McWord during "The Fright Stuff." While legitimately scolding her and her peers because they were pranking each other, he dismissed the possibility of Castle Manor being haunted. Muffy is even more aristocratic compared to her parents, who assumed she was from a royal family. Her parents said that they are "just plain folks" (that she is only the 4th generation of entrepreneurs) and advised her to visit their Aunt Olga Crump.

Friends

Francine Frensky - Muffy's best friend. Though they are different in numerous ways, they always manage to find something to do together, such as in the episode "Muffy's New Best Friend." The girls met when Muffy moved to Lakewood when they were both in second grade. They got to know each other better when they found out that they had the same middle name, "Alice." Despite their frequent arguments, the two girls do truly value each others' friendship and care about each other deeply. This can be seen the episode "Vomitrocious," where Muffy shows genuine concern over Francine's wellbeing and health.

Fern Walters - Muffy and Fern did not frequently do things together in the earlier episodes, excepting Muffy's sleepovers. One episode, however, that Muffy and Fern got along in is "Phony Fern," where they are seen hanging with each other by watching a movie and talking to each other on the phone. Muffy insisted that Fern solve a mystery and appeared to be upset with Fern because Fern was protecting The Brain and Francine. However, Muffy only acted angry so that Fern would confront them. When she did, Muffy followed Fern, thus finding the pranksters.

Prunella Deegan - Muffy and Prunella are seen together when they shop and have sleepovers and when there is an event at school or anything formal. In "Sue Ellen Moves In," it is mentioned by Arthur that Muffy did not immediately take to Prunella, befriending her only after a period of dislike.

Arthur Read - Muffy and Arthur are great friends. They both have the same birthday: May 25. Arthur tends to get annoyed when Muffy talks about shopping and playing with her Polly action figures. But despite all of that, they are still great friends.

Buster Baxter - Muffy and Buster are good friends. Muffy is usually disgusted of Buster's unhealthy eating habits, such as expired food or food that was dropped on the floor. Like Arthur, he also tends to get annoyed when Muffy talks about shopping and how popular she is. But despite that, they are still good friends. In "Muffy Gets Mature," Muffy imagines her and Buster kissing each other and then she turns into a frog and says: ”Ewwwwwwwww!”.

Kaylie Lamott - Kaylie is a girl that Muffy meets when she is staying at a shelter for residents of Elwood City who were displaced by Hurricane Sadie. Muffy is initially appalled at the idea of staying at a shelter, which only happened when there was a mistake with her family's reservation at a 4-star hotel and they were unable to find other lodgings. Kaylie gives Muffy advice on how to find the best snacks at the shelter and how to block out the sounds of snoring. The two quickly become friends and play together. Muffy is shocked when she learns that Kaylie's home had been almost completely destroyed by the storm and offered her and her mother a room at the Crosswire Estate. The two had already made the decision to move in with Kaylie's uncle in Florida, but before they left, Muffy and Kaylie spent time together in the repaired Ice Cream Shop.

George Lundgren - In "The Trouble with Trophies," Muffy's relationship with George seems to have grown. They agree to work together to try and give Fern a trophy. Muffy wasn't exactly friends with George in past episodes but she is now. However, she made fun of him in "Vomitrocious!" and he is often forgotten by the main group of friends.

D.W. Read - Muffy and D.W. are friends. At one time she considered D.W. as a possible replacement best friend. They have many things in common. They are picky eaters, have the same toys, both plan on becoming President of the United States, and are sometimes very bossy. Muffy also considers herself a role model worthy of admiration, and offered to impress D.W. by eating a bowl of spinach. ("D.W., the Picky Eater.")

Muffy is also close to her butler, Bailey. She spends much more time with Bailey, who gives her advice, helps her with homework and other projects, and as a result his work is usually unrecognized. He performs her every order as well. In "The Butler Did... What?," Muffy realized she did not know anything about Bailey and was very hurt when she believed that Bailey had run away. In the conclusion, she shows a considerate facet of herself and vows to learn everything about her butler.

Quotes

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Woah! Now let me get this straight. You want me to eat food cooked last night, that other people touched, that got cold, and then was cooked again?... I call it vomitrocious!

Muffy's first hairstyle was seen in "Francine's Bad Hair Day." The style was called "Prom Queen" by her hairdresser.

Muffy is one of the few characters on the show with cell phones. Not only does she stand out in her mere possession of a cell phone, but she also has more than one. Its first appearance was in "Francine's Bad Hair Day," her second in "Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain," her third in the first part of "Phony Fern," and her fourth phone (Portilex-360), also in "Phony Fern." Every single one has been a flip phone.

It has been stated that Muffy takes tap and ballroom dancing classes after school.

Muffy's quote "Vomitrocious" first appeared in the book Arthur's Thanksgiving, but became more and more common in the TV show.

Muffy has been voiced by Melissa Altro since the first season. Altro is the only voice actor to begin voicing their character as a child and continuing to do so as an adult (she was 13 when she began voicing Muffy). If one listens carefully, one can tell Muffy's voice differs across seasons, sounding a different pitch in the earlier ones.

In "Poor Muffy," she is revealed to be allergic to the odors of new carpets her family was once putting into their mansion but began removing when they learned about her allergies.

During formal occasions, she sometimes had her frontal hair cut into bangs.

Future

In "The Contest," Muffy is still friends with her companions in five years. In "The Election," Muffy appears to have become president, but it could simply be Muffy's dream, not reality. It is revealed in "Muffy's Soccer Shocker" that in a possible future, well after the events depicted in normal episodes of the series, Muffy will have a son who takes after her. In "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon," Arthur has a nightmare in which he sees a long-haired Muffy with what appear to be twin daughters.